


You Said We Were Forever

by penelopesaltz



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Confusion, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, Hizzie - Freeform, Protective Penelope, josie needs to stop being stubborn, penelope is soft, posie - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-20
Updated: 2019-09-18
Packaged: 2020-09-19 05:57:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 13,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20326237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/penelopesaltz/pseuds/penelopesaltz
Summary: 6 months after Penelope and Josie broke up, Penelope is still as cocky as ever but soft for Josie, and Josie is still heartbroken, angry and confused and low-key just wants things to go back to how they were, but surely they can't?no merge bc i can't handle that





	1. Wednesday

**Author's Note:**

> hope you all enjoy lmaooo I have no idea where i'm going with this  
follow my twitter if you wanna for when i update etc @penelopesaltz

"6 months and 12 days" Josie whispers to herself whilst looking at the countdown on her phone. She doesn't know why she decided to keep track of the day Penelope broke up with her, but she opens it every now and again, just to see how long it's been. Shouldn't I be moving on by now? She thinks to herself as she locks her phone and lies on her bed. Josie loved nights like these, Lizzie was out of their room doing whatever with whoever and Josie just had space to be with her own thoughts. 6 months and 12 days since the love of her life decided she didn't want Josie anymore. Penelope knew she needed to let Josie be her own person before they could carry on with their relationship. Of course Josie didn't know the exact reason why Penelope broke up with her, but it didn't matter as far as Josie was concerned, the only thing that mattered to Josie was the fact that Penelope didn't love her anymore. But that wasn't the case at all, in fact, it was quite the opposite. 

Josie woke up at around 7am, she suddenly felt about a thousand butterflies in her stomach and felt extremely ill. What the hell Josie thought, and then she realised, it was a Wednesday. Josie had a love hate relationship with Wednesdays as it's the only day in the week where she had every class with Penelope. Every. Single. Class.

"What's up with you?" Lizzie said confused as she stared at Josie.

"Look at that mirror any harder it'll crack." Lizzie said trying to get a reaction, however Josie didn't even look at her. Lizzie started to roll up a ball of paper to throw at Josie to get her attention when Josie finally spoke.

"You know, I'm gonna go and speak to Dad, there's no way he can't change my schedule for Wednesdays, even having one less class with her would help." Josie started getting up when Lizzie stopped her.

"Tough luck Jo, I've already tried changing my schedule several times this year after my breakup with Ethan, and then with Callum, and then Andrew. Dad'll just shoot you down like he did with me." Lizzie said with a sympathetic smile.

"I'm starting to think you need to stop dating people in your classes, otherwise you might end up requesting to transfer schools." Josie said laughing. 

"Shut up I'm serious, I hate Satan as much as the next guy but you've had this schedule for almost 5 months now, I'm sure you can survive a few more." Lizzie stated. 

Josie knew Lizzie was right, even if she did change schedule it would just show Penelope that Josie still cared, and Josie didn't want that. However, everyone knew how heartbroken Josie still was, including Penelope. As far as Lizzie was concerned Josie absolutely despised Wednesdays, but she didn't. Of course they weren't her favourites, who would enjoy having to spend the whole day with their ex? But she did also like them, being able to look across to Penelope in every lesson, staring at her gorgeous features, remembering when they used to pass notes to each other whilst they were dating, those memories bought her peace and calmed her mind. As much as she thought she hated Penelope she knew deep down all she wanted was to be hers again. But that can't happen, there's no way Josie would allow anyone back in again, especially the same girl who broke her heart. So Josie kept her wall up, the wall Penelope tried so hard to break down. 

"You coming Jo?" Lizzie said while grabbing the last of the books off her bed and popping them into her bag. 

"Yeah I'll meet you in class, just need to go and find MG to give him his notes back." Josie said as convincingly as possible. Lizzie just shrugged as she left the room. Josie took multiple deep breaths. She needed a few minutes to compose herself. After a while she grabbed her bag and made her way to the first class of the day. 

Normally Penelope would be late to class, but not on Wednesdays. She made sure to set her alarm extra early just to make sure she would be there before Josie, so she could stare at Josie when she entered the room, not in a creepy way, just to be able to have an excuse for looking at the girl she missed so much, to take in her features. As Penelope entered the room she noticed the twins weren't there yet. Fantastic she thought to herself with her classic smirk. She was confused though as she looked around the room. 

"Erm bird boy you're in my seat." Penelope said to Landon inpatiently. 

Before Landon could reply Dorian spoke up.

"Actually Penelope we have a new seating plan." He said looking at his clip board. "You will be sat at the back next to Josie." 

"Oh brilliant." Penelope said, knowing how Josie would react. She then made her way to her new seat and waited for Josie to come in. This will be the closest the girls have been since the split, they normally just exchange looks and make sarcastic comments now and again. Am I nervous? Penelope thought, why the hell am I nervous? Her thoughts were interrupted when the door opened, she turned around to see Lizzie enter the room but without Josie. Panic overtook her thoughts. Where's Josie? Is she okay? 

"Ah Lizzie, good morning" Dorian said. "Your new seat is at the front next to Hope." 

"Ha good one, where's my actual new seat?" Lizzie said getting annoyed. 

"As I said Miss Saltzman, at the front next to Hope." Dorian sternly replied. 

Lizzie didn't bother to argue, she walked over to Hope and took the seat next to her. Her and Hope never saw eye to eye, she didn't know why, they just didn't get along. 

"Nice to see you too." Hope said smirking at Lizzie.

Lizzie rolled her eyes and began getting the books out of her bag. 

As Josie approached the door of her first lesson she felt sick, as she always did when she knew Penelope would be in the room. Taking a final deep breath she opened the door. Instinctively she looked over to Penelope's seat, why the hell was Landon sat there? She thought to herself. 

"Josie, nice of you to join us." Dorian said sarcastically. "You're now sitting at the back." 

"Sorry I'm late" Josie said apologetically. She turned around to make her way to her seat when her eyes met Penelope's. Her eyes then diverted to the seat next to her, the empty seat next to her. 

Shit. This is gonna be a long day.


	2. It's only me, it's okay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the support so far :)) I'm excited for where this fic is going  
Josie just being the stubborn teddy bear she is.  
MG makes an appearance whoop  
Penelope being soft

Josie opened her mouth to protest but Dorian was already at the front ready to start the lesson. I'll just speak to him at the end Josie thought. 

"Seems like the universe keeps putting us together JoJo." Penelope said, smirking at Josie. Josie always had a weak spot for Penelope's smirk which just encouraged Penelope to do it more. 

Josie didn't say anything, in fact she didn't even look at Penelope as she sat down. She just stared at the front, not taking in anything Dorian was saying, getting consumed by her own thoughts. Josie didn't know how to feel, she hadn't been this close to Penelope in so long, her vanilla scent was taking up her mind, the scent that bought back a thousand memories, happy and heartbreaking. Josie began fiddling with her pen between her fingers, something she only did when she was nervous or anxious.

Penelope noticed this of course and bought Josie back out of her thoughts by whispering "Jo, deep breaths, its only me it's okay." Josie loved this side of Penelope, the side that only came out when she was with Josie, the side that would do anything to make sure Josie was okay. 

That's when Josie put her pen down and angrily said "I don't want to be anywhere near you, I doubt reminding me that you're here is gonna help." Josie didn't know why she said that, Penelope being there did help, just her presence bought calm to her mind. But that didn't matter anymore. Penelope broke your heart, Josie kept reminding herself, although it didn't remove the regret she felt after what she had just said. 

A wave of hurt flashed against Penelope's face as she said "Fool yourself all you want, we both know how you really feel." 

That's when Josie snapped "and how do I feel Penelope? Because I highly doubt you know how I feel, because you'd actually have to care to know that, and you lost every right to do that when you ended it, so don't come at me with that bullshit. "

Penelope knew that Josie needed to rant so she let her, she didn't reply with her usual bitchy comment, she didn't huff or ignore Josie, she listened, because as much as what Josie was saying hurt her, she knew Josie needed to be listened to, even if it was by the girl who broke her heart. She knew these comments were just built up anger, she knew Josie better than anybody, even Lizzie, but even Penelope couldn't tell whether she genuinely meant what she has said. Josie wasn't usually the type to throw around hurtful comments unless she meant them or unless she was genuinely hurting. Penelope wanted to believe she meant them, because she would rather that then the latter. The thought of Josie hurting made Penelope's heart ache, especially knowing she was the cause. 

"Girls listen please" Dorian said at the front of the class, Josie didn't realise how loud she was being until she looked up and realised the whole class was staring back at her. Josie hated the attention so she quietly apologised and looked back down at her work, slowly going red. Penelope just looked at Josie and smiled, she always looked cute when she was embarrassed. 

The girls sat in silence for a few minutes, but it felt like a lifetime. All Josie could think about was how much she missed the girl sat next to her, how their bond used to be unbreakable, and now they can't even sit next to each other without arguing. Penelope was the same, her thoughts consumed of why she broke up with Josie, so she can finally become more independent, how she can finally start living for herself instead of pleasing other people. She couldn't tell Josie this, she's so blinded by her co-dependency that she wouldn't understand so she lets Josie think that she fell out of love with her, it was easier this way, even making Josie hate her would help her in the long run, although not being with Josie anymore broke Penelope's heart more and more everyday. Josie was the love of her life, and nothing could change that. 

Both of the girls were bought out of their thoughts when their hands brushed together, as they both reached for some herbs for their spell, a touch which both girls desperately craved, it was like lightning. Penelope didn't move, letting Josie make the call, whether she wanted them to stay touching or not, she just wanted Josie to feel comfortable. Just when Penelope thought Josie wasn't going to move, Josie took her hand away and moved it across the table. Looking at Penelope with an unreadable expression. Penelope just smiled and continued working on the spell. 

"You do realise the pen has to actually touch the paper to write things? It's amazing really, the words will magically appear once it does." Penelope remarked after watching Josie just stare at the paper. 

"Shutup, I'm thinking." Josie snapped, why can't Penelope just be quiet, it would make this class much more bearable. 

"Oh I know, you always scrunch your eyebrows when you think, it's cute, makes you look like an angry teddy." Penelope laughed. 

Josie couldn't help but smile when she heard her laugh, that damn laugh, the one that could cure diseases and bring world peace, she loved it. Josie looked at Penelope directly in the eye for the first time since they sat down, those green orbs looking directly back, it made Josie knees feel weak, her pulse quickened and her palms felt sweaty. 

"W-we should get back to work." Josie softly said, with the calmest expression Penelope's seen since she sat down. 

Penelope saluted which made Josie laugh, how can she make me so sad yet so happy at the same time? Josie thought as she finished up her spell. There was only 10 minutes left of the class, Josie was excited to leave so she could have time to collect her thoughts, however she didn't want to leave Penelope, she wanted to stay in this quiet bliss forever. 

Josie walked up to the board at the front to be able to see the smaller words, when she felt someone come up behind her. 

"Looks like you and Satan are getting along pretty well, has she reserved you a space in hell?" Lizzie said rolling her eyes. 

"What are you on about? We've hardly spoken." Josie said confused. 

"I didn't know hardly speaking meant laughing with each other, I didn't think you'd be such a pushover to someone who broke your heart, it's just allowing her to do it again." Lizzie stated, putting her hand on Josie's shoulder. "Just think about it, I don't want you to be hurt again." Lizzie said returning to her seat. 

Hope rolled her eyes at Lizzie when she sat down. "You need to stop interfering, Josie's old enough to make her own decisions y'know" 

"And who asked you? Josie's my twin, I think I know what's best for her" Lizzie said staring directly into Hopes eyes. They're quite pretty Lizzie thought to herself, before mentally slapping herself for thinking that about Hope.

Lizzie was right, what was Josie thinking. She did so well at the start of the lesson keeping her guard up, why was she now laughing at her stupid jokes and allowing herself for feel safe in her presence again. Josie you're such an idiot. Josie's mind was now racing all over again. She returned to her seat and sat in silence. 

"So Jo how many herbs did you put in th-" 

"My names Josie, and I don't know, ask someone else." Josie said coldly. 

"Yeah you're right, I'll go ask Hope, she did get the highest grade in this class so she'd know." Penelope shot back, Penelope knew how upset Josie was when Hope got the highest grade last year, she spent days reassuring Josie that it was just a stupid test and it didn't mean anything, so it was a low blow that Penelope would bring it back up. 

Josie knew she deserved that, Penelope was trying to be civil but Josie kept pushing her away, letting her anger take control. Penelope didn't know what made Josie have a sudden mood change, she thought she was getting somewhere so when Josie came back so cold, Penelope just snapped. As Penelope was making her way back to the desk after speaking to Hope the bell rang, and like a shot Josie grabbed her things and left. She had a 10 minute break now before her next lesson so she went to her room to gather her thoughts. What the hell just happened? 

She could still feel Penelope's presence, she missed her so much. The thoughts of the breakup consume Josie's head, the fact that Penelope said the words "I don't love you anymore" killed Josie, made her feel sick to her stomach. So she lay in silence as tears fell down her face, missing the love of her life. 

She was quickly disrupted though when she heard a knock on her door. She smiled as she saw MG on the other side. Josie quickly wiped her tears and said "Hey what're you doing here?" 

"About to walk my favourite Saltzman to her next class, what's up you've been crying?" MG asked concerned. 

"No I haven't." Josie said with a pout.

"Tell that to the mascara that's so far down your face it may as well be lipstick." MG joked which made Josie laugh. 

"Just Penelope stuff, I try so hard to hate her but I just can't, I'm not me without her, it's like half of me is missing." This was so hard for Josie to say, but she trusted MG, she knew he would understand. 

"You need to speak to her Jo, otherwise you're just going to be miserable and nobody wants that, especially not her," MG said as they start to walk to class. 

"She couldn't care less." Josie said 

"Believe me she cares more than you think, after this class it's lunch, speak to her then. It's been 6 months you need to get everything off your chest." MG stated.

Josie just nodded as they walked in silence, Josie knew she had to talk to Penelope, she needed her in her life one way or another, so she decided at lunch they're going to talk. Whether Penelope liked it or not. 

The next class went by pretty uneventful, Penelope sat at the front of this class as the teacher didn't trust her at the back and Josie sat in the middle row directly behind her, normally Penelope would turn around and send her a few cheeky winks or a snarky comment about how good she looked that day, but not today. After first period Penelope didn't have her normal wit, she just looked sad. Josie pulled out her phone and composed a text that read  
J: Hey, can you meet me at the soccer field at lunch? We need to talk.  
Penelope slowly pulled out her phone, making sure she's not caught, her posture changed as she read the text, Josie could see Penelope typing as her phone beeped.  
P: Miss me already JoJo? ;) see you at lunch.  
Josie rolled her eyes at the text but felt relieved at the same time. Now she just needed to think of what to say. So much hate and so much love for the girl bubbled up inside, she didn't know how this talk was going to go, but she knows it needs to happen.


	3. I guess I was wrong about you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapters full of angst sorryyyy😬  
please let me know what you think of the fic so far :))

Penelope and Josie agreed to have their talk after they'd finished their lunch, which Josie was okay with as it gave her time to think about what to say. As Josie walked into the canteen, arm linked with Lizzie's, she felt a pair of eyes staring at her, following her until she reached her table. She knew it was Penelope, nobody else looked at her the way Penelope did. Josie gave all she had not to look at Penelope, but as she sat down she quickly turned around, giving Penelope a quick glance. Not quick enough though as Penelope still found time to give Josie a quick wink before she looked away.

Josie was sat with Lizzie, MG and Rafael. Lizzie of course making sure to sit next to Raf so she could flirt to her hearts desires. Josie doesn't know what she saw in Rafael at the start of the year, yeah of course he was good looking, but he wasn't Penelope. Josie was struggling to believe she could ever allow herself to be with anybody else. 

"Room for a little one?" A voice came next to Josie, she looked up and saw Hope. Josie liked Hope a lot and they did have a lot in common, Hope always made sure to be there for Josie, which of course Lizzie didn't like. 

"Hey Hope yeah of course, take a seat." Josie smiled signally Hope to take the empty seat next to her. 

"Does she have to?" Lizzie groaned, turning away from Raf so she could make eye contact with Hope.

"For god sake Lizzie I don't bite, not today anyway." Hope raised her eyebrows as she took her seat, making Lizzie huff in annoyance and turn back to talk to Raf. 

10 minutes passed and the group were still sat eating their lunch. MG was telling them about all these new jokes he had learnt last night online, which nobody found funny. Josie and Hope laughed though to make MG feel good. Lizzie and Rafael had just recently left as Lizzie needed to go and speak to Alaric about wanting to throw a party and Raf had a meeting with the pack. 

"Okay guys help." Josie pleaded interrupting MG as she spoke. "I'm meeting Penelope soon to talk about everything and I'm nervous, I might just text her and say I don't need to talk anymore. I mean what do I even say, hey Penelope thanks for breaking my heart, just to let you know I'm still madly in love with you and nothing's ever gonna change that but I still hate you for what you did so thanks see ya." 

Hope and MG couldn't help but laugh at Josie's comment, they knew Josie was hurting but they also could see how much Penelope was too, even though she does hide it well. 

"Josie you just need to have an open and honest chat with her, even if it's just as some sort of closure, it's been 6 months and you two have hardly even spoke since the breakup let alone given yourself chance to move on, you need to get everything off your chest for your own sake." Hope said calmly. Hope always gave the best advice, so Josie made sure to take it on board. 

As Josie approached the soccer field she could feel her heart rate rapidly increase, she thought her heart was going to jump out of her chest at any moment, her hands began to sweat so she rubbed them on her skirt and took multiple deep breaths. As she turned the corner she saw Penelope. She took a minute to just observe her, she was sat on the bleachers on her phone, the curls in her hair bouncing perfectly off her shoulders and those damn eyes, the ones Josie got lost in every time she looked at them. 

Penelope had been there for around 10 minutes waiting for Josie, she was just scrolling through her twitter feed, though she wasn't reading any tweets, her mind was anywhere but twitter, she was just mindlessly scrolling as she thought about all the reasons Josie would want to speak to her. She hates me, I broke her heart, Penelope thought to herself, she didn't even know why Josie was giving her the time of day let alone willing to speak to her. Penelope was thankful though. These past 6 months have been hell so she knew the girls needed to talk as they haven't since the breakup. As much as it hurt Penelope, she knows she broke up with Josie for a reason and that's the way it had to be. She has to stick to her story as hurtful as it is, as that's the only way Josie is going to become her own person. Penelope wants nothing but happiness for Josie, and as long as she's still living for other people, that's not gonna happen. 

"Penelope... hey" Josie said quietly, not wanting to startle the shorter girl. 

"Hey Jojo " Penelope smiled signally Josie to sit next to her. "So, what's up buttercup? Why'd you wanna chat?" 

Josie sat next to Penelope, trying to rearrange all of the words in her head so they would make sense. She looked deep into Penelope's eyes in which Penelope gave her a soft smile. Josie loved when Penelope would smile like that, it was her way of telling Josie that everything's gonna be okay, without having to speak. 

"I-I just don't understand, everything was going so well, you told me the day before that you loved me, as you did everyday. And then you just left, with no real explanation, you can't just do that to someone Penelope it hurts." Josie said starting to get emotional. She didn't want to get emotional so quickly but maybe that's what she needed. 

Josie's sudden outburst took Penelope off guard, she was expecting a bit more small talk first so she didn't know what to say. She hated hurting Josie, more than anything. But if hurting Josie temporarily now would allow her to become the best version of herself, to become the happiest she could be in the future, Penelope was willing to do it. As she would do anything for the love of her life. 

She wanted to hug Josie tighter than ever before, she wanted to run her fingers through her hair and tell her how sorry she was, how much she loves her and how she only broke up with her to help her in the long run, how much it hurts her not being with Josie everyday. But she couldn't. 

That's when Penelope knew what she had to say, she knew she needed to lie. She needed to put her wall back up and pretend she didn't care. If she just tells Josie the real reason now the whole thing would just be pointless, and there's no way they both went through this hell for no reason. 

"I dunno what you want me to say, we were together, and then we weren't, that's life. I've moved on I don't know why you haven't." Penelope just shrugged calmly. Even though deep down her own words were causing a physical ache to her heart. 'This is for Josie' Penelope kept replaying in her head. 

Tears started falling down Josie's cheeks, it took so much willpower for Penelope not to grab her face and wipe those tears away. She also knew that Josie needed to vent, Penelope needed to push so Josie would release all of her built up anger, she would rather her yell at Penelope then deal with it on her own. So push Penelope did. 

"Listen I know it hurts, it would hurt anybody losing me but I don't think we need the waterworks." Penelope stated 

Josie couldn't believe what she was hearing, this wasn't Penelope. Josie knew for a fact that Penelope loved her as much as Josie did when they were together, so why is this so easy for her. What did Josie do to make Penelope fall out of love with her? Josie just didn't understand, she felt her heart breaking even more. Josie had a whole speech prepared about how much she missed Penelope and how she just needed an explanation, all of that went out of the window. The careless look in Penelope face made Josie snap. 

"What the hell is wrong with you? Are you actually incapable of any human emotion? You know what, I don't even know why I spent so long loving you, you weren't worth a second." Josie got up, starting to yell now. "I guess it's my mistake, why would I think someone with a heart made a stone would feel anything, let alone love. You know Penelope I thought you were different, I thought you were the only person who genuinely cared about me, the person who knew me better than anybody, I guess I was wrong about you...once again." Words were getting harder to say as the lump in Josie's throat got bigger, she knew Penelope. She knew she could be cocky and bitchy when she needed to be, but she wasn't heartless. She was the complete opposite. They were together for over a year and Penelope was the most caring, loving girlfriend ever. Josie knew something was going on deep down, but her anger blinded all of her rational thoughts. 

Penelope didn't say anything. There was a lump building in her throat which was getting harder to ignore. She knew she needed to stay quiet, if she spoke now she would just break down, telling Josie everything, how much she loved her and how much she cared about her. She couldn't do that. Not now. Her eyes started to water but she managed to compose herself just as Josie started to away. Just as Josie was about to turn the corner she turned back around. 

"You said we were forever." Josie said just loud enough for Penelope to hear. As Josie turned the corner Penelope allowed her emotion to over take. Tears started uncontrollably falling down her face and she was struggling to catch her breath. She knew Josie was angry and she would regret saying those things. Penelope was glad that she had made Josie vent, she knew she needed to, she just hopes that in a few days Josie will feel better for it. 

Josie didn't turn up for any of the remaining classes of the day. She couldn't, she locked herself in her room and just cried. She put her headphones in and played the playlist she made about Penelope. It was ironic really, the playlist that made her feel the calmest was the one about the girl who caused all her anger and heartbreak. Josie's rational thoughts were slowly coming back to her. She knew it wasn't Penelope she was talking to down there, it was the wall that Penelope puts up when she's guarding her emotion. That just confused Josie even more, but why she was hiding behind her wall Josie didn't know, but she needed to find out. 

Normally Penelope would keep a cool head in a situation like this, but today was different. Her emotions were everywhere, she stormed into the last class of the day and slammed the door. 

"Damn I think someone's got their knickers in a twist, probably still crying over that Saltzman chick." Amber said, a girl who never liked Josie, due to the fact she's always wanted Penelope herself.

Penelope hated the fact someone spoke about Josie with so little respect. "What the fuck is your problem?" Penelope yelled storming over to Amber. 

"I just think you should move on.. with someone who's obviously much better than Josie, which isn't really hard to be." Amber said smirking.

That comment made Penelope see red. Across the room MG could see that Penelope was about to throw a punch, so he got up as quickly as he could, but it was too late by then. Penelope had hit Amber, and Amber was about to retaliate.

Josie must have fallen asleep because she woke up to her door being pushed open at force. It was still light outside she she knew lessons were still going on. 

"Josie you need to come now, it's Penelope." Hope ran in out of breath. 

Josie's heart dropped as she ran out of the door following Hope.


	4. I'm staying

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is kinda cute   
More Hizzie :))

"Hope can you just tell me what's going on?" Josie said, she was getting worried now. Her and Penelope were on bad terms, but she could never stop caring about her. 

"She got in a fight, a bad fight, she's in your Dads office now. I've hardly ever seen her this angry." Hope replied.

"A fight? What? With who? Is she okay?" Josie questioned, there were so many questions running around her head she didn't know where to start.

"I mean, her face is pretty fucked up, but you should've seen Amber, she's like 10x worse." Hope explained. "Amber made some bitchy comment about you and Penelope just lost it." 

"Yeah, our talk didn't really go as planned, she basically just said she fell out of love with me and that was that, I don't know why I bothered." Josie said sadly.

"Yeah I gathered that when Amber went flying across the room, Penelope's only ever in that bad of a mood when she's had an argument with you, which seems to be a lot lately." Hope explained. 

"I can't stop loving her Hope, I just can't." Josie said.

"You'll work it out Jo, I've never see two people as made for each other as you two, and if it doesn't work out, you've still got a pretty cool best friend." Hope joked nudging Josie. 

Josie just laughed as they walked in silence, the closer they got to Alaric's office the more anxious Josie got. 

Josie wanted to kill Amber for hurting Penelope, but before she did anything she needed to make sure Penelope was okay. As they were approaching Alaric's office, Alaric walked out. 

"Dad is she okay?" Josie asked. 

"She's fine Josie, I've left in there to calm down. I think we need to leave her alone for a bit, Hope I need to speak to you about next term, I'll see you later okay Jo? Don't worry." Alaric said whilst kissing Josie on the head. 

"Go speak to her." Hope whispers as she pulls Josie into a hug. "I'll talk to you later." Josie watches Hope and Alaric walk away. She knows she should leave Penelope alone, she made her feelings pretty clear. However, Josie just can't leave her knowing she's upset so she slowly opens the office door, seeing Penelope sat down, head in her hands. 

Penelope looks up and all Josie can do is stare. She has a black eye and her lips bleeding. Josie's heart aches at the sight of Penelope being in pain.

"It's not as bad as it looks... you should go." Penelope said looking away from Josie.

"No, you don't get to do that. We both know if it was me who was stupid enough to get in a fight you wouldn't leave my side, good terms or not. You don't get to decide what I do. I'm staying." Josie said sternly. She was still angry at Penelope about the argument they had earlier, but she's putting her own feelings aside, she needs to be there for her. 

Penelope loved the stubborn side of a Josie, she found it so attractive, although she didn't think it would be the best time to mention this, seeing as though she could hardly feel her face. 

Hope has just finished speaking to Alaric and she's on the way to her room when she bumps into Lizzie, knocking all of her books on the floor. 

"Do you mind? I don't appreciate being abused." Lizzie said rolling her eyes. 

"Always one for the dramatics aren't we." Hope replied. She wish she knew why her and Lizzie didn't get along, she's not someone who enjoys bitchy banter so she'd rather just put the whole thing to bed. 

Lizzie began to walk away when Hope calls out "Do you wanna study for Mr Williams test with me? I mean not to sound big headed but I'm pretty good at that class so if you need any help I'm here." Hope didn't know why she had said that, she blurted it out and the look on Lizzie's face shows she was far from amused. Until her moody expression slowly turned into a sly smile. 

"Okay Mikaelson you're on. I'll bet you $20 that I'll get a higher score." Lizzie said in a smug tone. She always loved a challenge. She also had to admit that it felt good not arguing with Hope for a change, even though she'd never say that out loud. Hope and Lizzie walked to Hope's room exchanging small talk. When they arrived Hope opened her door and allowed Lizzie to enter. This should be interesting Hope thought to herself as she followed Lizzie into the room.

Back in Alaric's office Penelope and Josie sat in silence. "I'm sorry about earlier, I didn't mean to upset you." Penelope finally said after a while. 

"I said some pretty shitty things too. Let's just forget it. We need to talk about why you're fighti-oh Pen your lips dripping." Josie said as she instinctively rubbed her thumb against Penelope's lip wiping the blood away. 

"S-sorry I didn't mean to-"

"Jo it's fine." Penelope said smiling softly. 

"How come you got in the fight? You're not usually the violent type." Josie asked, genuinely curious, as bitchy as Penelope could get, she wasn't the type to go around hitting people. 

"Amber was just talking about you, badly and I lost it, my mind was everywhere after our argument and I dunno, I just couldn't control it." Penelope shrugged as she looked at Josie. Their eyes connected and it felt like nothing else mattered, all the pain they had previously felt didn't matter anymore. Penelope caressed Josie's cheek, making sure to remember the touch, the touch she has missed so much. Josie flinched at the contact, but she didn't move away, she couldn't, it was like she was frozen. 

Josie leaned into the touch and they stayed like that for a while, until Penelope pulled away with a slight smile. She could feel herself getting drawn closer to Josie and she needed to change the subject before something happened she knew Josie would regret. 

"You should go, I'm sure Lizzie's wondering where you are." Penelope said standing up. "Besides I'm gonna go now anyway, need to sleep away the pain of my face." Penelope said laughing. 

"I could heal if for you if you want me to, it would only take a minute." Josie said quietly, she knew she was getting into dangerous territory, siphoning from Penelope was something Josie always used to love to do, it was always such a special thing.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? We both know what happened the last time you siphoned from me." Penelope said with a raised eyebrow, being reminded of their bedroom activities.

Josie knew it wasn't a good idea, she knew it would bring back a hundred memories she tried so hard to forget, but she didn't care. In this moment she only wanted to be with Penelope, to make her feel better. Without saying anything Josie grabbed Penelope's hand and began to siphon. Delicately she placed her other hand on Penelope's injuries and began to heal them. There was so much warmth shooting through Josie, just having Penelope's hand in hers made her stomach do backflips. 

After the healing had finished Josie moved her hand off Penelope's face.

"Hopefully you'll sleep better now." Josie said smiling, a genuine smile, which Penelope hadn't seen in a while. 

"Yeah I will, thanks Jojo." Penelope replied with a smile, not letting go of Josie's hand. "I'll see you around." She added before giving Josie's hand a light squeeze and leaving the room. Penelope knew she would sleep better tonight, not because of her healed face, but because for the first time in 6 months she wasn't on bad terms with Josie. Maybe I'll finally sleep the whole night through Penelope thought to herself before heading back to her room. 

When Josie arrived back in her room, she lay down on her bed and kept replaying what had just happened in her head, she had just had a genuine conversation with Penelope which didn't end in an argument for the first time since the breakup. A smile appeared on her face as she remembered Penelope caressing her cheek. She didn't want it to end. For the first time since the breakup Josie felt content, confused, but content. She just didn't know where to go from here. Her head was a mess, and not knowing what Penelope was thinking drove her insane. Why do you keep letting her do this to you? Josie thought as she dug her head into her pillow. Penelope is bad for you, she destroyed your heart and didn't even care, Josie knew they were going around in circles. But surely that's better then Penelope not being in your life at all? Josie thought. She was having a mental battle with herself, the only thing she knew was that the world felt right when she was with Penelope, and it always has. 

Josie finally came to the conclusion that she was going to let Penelope decide what to do next. She knew she should leave Penelope alone, she should hate her even more after the argument they had, but she can't. Her gut was telling her that it wasn't over and to fight for what she wanted. But she also knew there was no point in fighting if Penelope genuinely didn't love her anymore. 

When Lizzie woke up she was confused, she looked over to the clock that read 1:45am. Her head was lying on something bumpy and she felt something on her legs. Her eyes widened.

"Shit shit shit." Lizzie whispers after realising what had happened. 

She fell asleep studying last night, and was now cuddling with none other than Hope Mikaelson. She slowly got out of the bed making sure not to disturb Hope, as she stood up she realised how much she missed the warmth the other girl gave her. God stop being so stupid Lizzie thought to herself as she shook her head and left the room. As Lizzie entered her own room she saw Josie sat up in bed with a worried expression. 

"Well well well look who's got some explaining to do." Josie said as she looked at Lizzie, waiting for an explanation as to where she'd been.


	5. Do you think true love ever really dies?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> update for you all :))  
Lizzie's view on Josie's relationship with Penelope & Hope spills a secret

"Hey Jo, what're you still doing up?" Lizzie asked as cooly as possible, ignoring Josie's previous remark. 

"Oh y'know just being worried sick, you do realise the whole point of having a phone is to answer it." Josie said. "Where have you been anyway?" 

"Sorry my phone must've died.. I didn't hear your message." Lizzie said as she genuinely doesn't recall hearing her phone go off. She didn't feel the need to explain herself, but she knows how worried Josie gets so she had to come up with something. And that something definitely can't be that she was just lying in bed with someone she's supposed to hate. 

"Well I got given a bunch of homework and you know I've got Mr Williams test coming up, I was just studying in the library until I fell asleep on the desk." Lizzie was trying to be as convincing as possible. 

"Right well I'm going to sleep now I know you're not dead." Josie said rolling her eyes.

"And people call me dramatic." Lizzie remarked getting her pyjamas out of her draw. 

Once both the girls were in bed and had been for a few minutes, Josie turned the bedside lamp on.

"Josie do you mind? I'm trying to sleep here." Lizzie groaned.

"Can I ask you something?" Josie asked timidly.

"Of course, but can it not wait until the morning. I'm tired." Lizzie said not even turning around. 

Josie didn't say anything, she knows Lizzie hated Penelope but her opinion did matter. 

"Do you think true love ever really dies?." Josie asked, awaiting a response.

"Look if this is about Penelope-" Lizzie tried to say before getting cut off.

"Just forget about my situation with her, answer the question." Josie said seriously. 

Lizzie knew Josie needed an honest answer, Lizzie hadn't liked Penelope ever since she broke Josie's heart, but she knew how much they loved each other when they were together. Penelope and Lizzie actually got along quite well before the breakup, but Penelope wasn't the one who had to watch Josie cry herself to sleep every night, Lizzie was. Which just made Lizzie dislike the girl even more. The main reason they got along so well was due to the fact Penelope kept all the comments to herself about how much Josie needs to put herself first instead of Lizzie, to avoid arguments. She knew if she expressed her opinion about Lizzie it wouldn't end well, so she didn't.

Penelope mentioned a few times early on in the relationship about how Josie needs to stop putting others before herself, but she didn't listen. So after a while she just stopped mentioning it, hoping one day it would change.. but it didn't. Penelope knew how much Josie hated arguing, so Penelope kept quiet, every single time Josie put herself second due to chasing after Lizzie. Lizzie didn't know the real reason Penelope had ended it, she was just as confused as Josie. 

Lizzie knew something though, something which Josie didn't. After Josie had walked away from Penelope after their argument earlier in the day, Lizzie was there, she was going to the soccer field to see if any of the boys were there. She watched as Penelope sobbed after Josie walked away. That's how Lizzie knew that true love doesn't die, because you don't cry like that over someone you don't love.

Lizzie hasn't told Josie though and doesn't intend do. She wanted to yell at Josie for even giving Penelope the chance to explain herself, but she didn't want Josie to know she was there. Besides, she's the one who hurt Josie so it's only right Penelope's hurting too. As much as she hated the girl for what she did to Josie, she knows Penelope must have a pretty good reason for doing what she did, but that doesn't make it any more forgivable. Even Lizzie has to admit she's never seen Josie as happy as she was when she was with Penelope, but she's also never seen Josie so devastated after it finished.

"No Jo, I don't think true love could ever really die." Lizzie said, knowing she needed to be honest.

Josie just nodded and went to sleep, Lizzie just confirming what she'd known all along.

Penelope had eventually woken up after snoozing her alarm for what felt like a hundred times, She had had the best sleep since the breakup and she knew that was due to the moment she had with Josie last night. She had come to the realisation that she can't push Josie away anymore. As much as she needs Josie to be able to put herself first, meaning they can't be together, it wouldn't hurt to be friends right? She would still be giving Josie space to grow but also being able to speak to the girl whenever. Penelope was coming up with ways to speak to Josie about this, but she didn't know whether Josie still wanted nothing more to do with her. Yeah they had a moment last night but what if Josie woke up regretting the whole thing? 

Lizzie and Josie were both sat down eating their breakfast when Josie saw Hope coming over. 

"Hey, wanna sit down with us?" Josie asked with a smile

"No not today Jo, gotta go and finish up some homework, I just needed to give Lizzie this." Hope replies as she hands Lizzie her phone. "You left it in my room last night, I thought you'd need it." 

"Oh right yeah.. thanks." Lizzie said bluntly snatching her phone.

"Well see you later then." Hope said, walking away with a hurt expression. I thought we'd got somewhere last night she thought to herself, clearly not.

"I didn't realise that the library had relocated to Hopes room." Josie said with a smirk. 

"Oh be quiet, so I missed out a minor detail.. what's the big deal?" Lizzie said, knowing Hope has just landed her in it.

"Alright Liz, whatever you say. I'd be cool with it you know.. you and Hope, I just wish you hadn't lied. " Josie replied.

Lizzie nearly spit out her food.

"Me and Hope.. as in me and Hope Mikaelson? Don't be so ridiculous." Lizzie spat, she was getting defensive now, her feelings were getting muddled and she could feel herself taking it out on Josie. 

"Sorry, I was only saying-" 

"Well don't. I don't know why you can't just mind your own business." Lizzie said slamming her plate down before walking away. 

After the argument with Lizzie it was safe to say Josie felt like shit. She didn't realise it was such a sensitive subject for Lizzie.. she wish she had kept her mouth shut. There was only two places in the entire school that Josie could go when she felt shitty, one was Penelope's room and the other was the attic, which only her and Penelope knew about. The attic being the one she used the most, since Penelope's room was out of the question. She knew it was a bad idea to go to Penelope's room.. she didn't know where they stood and she was also aware the closer they got, the more it would hurt when Penelope leaves again, so she decides to keep her distance from Penelope and head to the attic.


	6. I didn't mean to hurt you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hope you're all enjoying this :)  
lil chapter, posie have a deep chat

Josie walked over to the entrance of the attic, pulling down the attic ladder and started going up, making sure nobody saw her. She loved being one of the only two people in the school who knew about the attic. It used to be the place that her and Penelope went to, just to escape and be themselves. On their 6 month anniversary Penelope had covered the attic with fairy lights and made a star projection on the ceiling. They lay down in eachothers arms just talking for hours, Josie nearly cried due to how special it was, and how much she loved the girl who had gone to all that trouble to make the day memorable. 

The attic was full of memories, and it made Josie feel calm. She hadn’t been to the attic in a while, she didn’t think she could go there without breaking down. She decided to risk it today, due to being on okay terms with Penelope. Although she regrets her decision as soon as she enters, it was the only thing in the past 6 months that hadn't changed, seeing the polaroids hung up around the room that they had put up, the lights were still there and tears started forming in Josie's eyes. Being back in this room made her remember everything, she was the happiest she had ever been and that got ripped away from her, Penelope ripped that away from her. 

Josie walked over to the beanbag that the girls had spent endless hours laying on together and she sat down. She took a moment to compose herself, being back here had made Josie re-live everything, even the breakup. She needs to leave she thought to herself, but she couldn't, she felt safe here, her heart was breaking every second she was there, but it was safe. 

Josie had been there for around half an hour when she received a text from Lizzie.

L: Where are you? Classes started 20 minutes ago. Look I'm sorry about earlier, I shouldn't of taken my mood out on you 

Shit Josie thought, she completely forgot about class, she was just about to reply to Lizzie when she heard someone pull down the attic ladder. 

She knew it was Penelope, who else could it be? She took a deep breath and wiped the mascara from her face from her previous tears. 

"Oh shit, sorry Jo I didn't know you'd be here." Penelope said as she entered the attic. 

"I was just leaving actually." Josie said getting up, avoiding eye contact with the shorter girl. 

"Hey hey are you okay?" Penelope asked, knowing Josie well enough to know when she's hiding her emotion. 

"I'm fine I'm just late for class." Josie said bluntly. "Wait what are you even doing up here?" 

"I could ask you the same question" Penelope replied whilst walking over the window.

"Well it's a good job I asked you first." Josie said

"I had a free period and I come here when I need to think." Penelope said, leaving out the fact she goes there whenever she's missing Josie. 

Josie just nodded and went to walk away. She now knows coming back up here was a mistake, she felt overwhelmed and emotional, and the fact she was now up here alone with Penelope didn't help. 

"I've missed you." Penelope said just as Josie was about to go down the ladder. "I know it didn't work out romantically between us, but you were also my best friend and I miss that." 

Josie stopped dead in her tracks and looked up at Penelope. 

"I honestly struggle to understand how you can say it didn't work out between us, we were happy, I know for a god damn fact that you were happy, don't say it didn't work out because that makes it seem like it was a joint decision.. this was on you, not me." Josie snapped. 

"Look I know you don't understand and that's okay. I was just hoping we could at least be friends." Penelope said before getting cut off.

Josie could feel a lump in her throat forming. She hated that she got so emotional, especially when it came to the girl who broke her heart.

"Penelope I can't be your friend. Pretending not to feel stuff, holding back all the anger and hurt that I still have towards you, it's not healthy and I won't do it... I can't do it." Josie said as a tear fell down her cheek. Being back in the attic had made Josie realise she still wasn't ready to forgive Penelope.. to forget about all the pain she caused, she was naive to think it would be that easy. She also knew you can’t be just friends with someone you’re deeply in love with. 

Penelope could feel the pain in Josie's voice.. she wasn't expecting to be forgiven but she had hoped that Josie would at least want to be her friend, but she wasn't surprised, she broke Josie's heart in two and she was still paying the price. 

"I didn't mean to hurt you Josie, you have to know that." Penelope said as she walked closer to Josie. 

"Well you did, and I don't know if I'll ever be able to forgive you for that." Josie said before walking away.

Fuck Penelope thought. As much as she hated seeing Josie walk away she knew she had to for her own good. 

Penelope stayed in the attic for two more periods before she came down for lunch. 

"Peez where have you been? I've been looking for you for ages." MG said as he strolled over to Penelope. 

"Oh nowhere. What's up?" Penelope replied.

"Me and Kaleb are throwing as party at the mill on Friday night, thought you'd help us get the word around." MG said with a smile. 

"Oh right sure, whatever." Penelope said. Maybe a party is exactly what she needs to take her mind off everything, she thought to herself as she finished her lunch.


	7. Like what you see?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Penelope makes some questionable choices in an attempt to forget about Josie. Lizzie gets herself into a muddle, which Hope very much enjoys.

Penelope and Josie had spent their time avoiding each other since their talk in the attic yesterday. It was clear that Josie was still in a bad place and as much as Penelope wanted to be there for her, she knew Josie needed time. It was Friday and the party at the mill was tonight, Penelope was excited, she could let her hair down and get as drunk as she possibly could. 

Things had been okay between the twins since Lizzie had apologised for snapping, Josie knew it wasn't her fault and it was an unnecessary outburst by her twin but she decided to put the whole thing behind them. Just remind Josie not to mention Hope again.

"Josie what should I wear tonight?" Lizzie asked throwing all of her clothes out of the wardrobe. 

"You'd look good in anything, just pick something." Josie said writing up an assignment. 

"You should start thinking about what to wear too, the party's tonight." Lizzie replied 

"Oh I'm not going." Josie said with a chuckle.

"Yes you are, look I know you're avoiding Penelope, which is understandable but you've got to live a little too." Lizzie said 

"I'll think about it." Josie said just to shut Lizzie up, she knew she wasn't gonna go but if she told Lizzie that she wouldn't hear the end of it. 

Josie dreaded even leaving the room due to maybe running into Penelope, once again they weren't on the best terms and she wasn't ready for even more awkwardness. However, the fact that she had Dorian's class next, where she sat next to Penelope, really wasn't helping. 

Penelope walked into class, late as usual. It was a Friday and she was never in the learning type of mood on Friday, who was? When her and Josie were together, Josie would quite literally drag Penelope out of bed so she wouldn't be late, but not anymore so Penelope was late more often than not. 

"Penelope, that's a second strike." Dorian said. If Penelope had three strikes in a week due to being late, she'd get detention every day for the following week. It helped a little, but she just can't be bothered today, after everything that happened with Josie yesterday, education is the last thing on her mind. 

"Thanks so much for reminding me, I'll make sure to add it to my tally." Penelope said in a sarcastic tone and she took her seat next to Josie. 

The girls didn't say anything to each other. Normally Penelope would make a witty comment but not today. She knew how hurt Josie got yesterday and she wasn't going to make her feel any worse. She respected the fact that Josie didn't want her in her life anymore, I deserve this Penelope thought to herself as she drifted away from what Dorian was saying. 

Josie's head was spinning, she didn't know what to do. She knew Penelope must be in a shitty mood due to her complete silence, to be honest she wasn't in the best of moods herself. She still had some deep buried anger towards Penelope which she thought had left, but yesterday she realised it hadn't. How her heart ached every time she thought about memories with Penelope, she missed her so much but she knew she had to keep her distance, being friends with Penelope wouldn't work. She needed more than friends, pretending she doesn't feel all of the things she does would hurt them both in the long run. At least that's what her brain was telling her. Her heart was telling her that friends wouldn't be such a bad thing, she would still be able to be close to Penelope, see her everyday, be as they were before just minus the romance. Surely that's better than nothing? Head or heart.. that was the question.

Dorian allowed the class to work on the assignments they had to do for his class, which everyone groaned at. Except Penelope. She was just thankful that no talking was involved, she could just write all lesson and not have to talk with someone who didn't want anything to do with her. Which is why it surprised her when Josie spoke up for the first time since the lesson started half an hour ago. 

"Are you going to the party tonight?" Josie asked looking up. She didn't know why she asked, she wasn't even going herself, I guess after everything she still wanted an excuse to speak to Penelope. 

"You know me Josie, could never miss a party." Penelope said eyes focused on her work, but her mind everywhere but. Penelope had to admit it felt weird saying Josie and not Jojo, but if Josie didn't want Penelope in her life anymore, she was going to be as neutral as possible, which meant no nicknames. 

Josie. Right, what happened to Jojo? Even Jo? Josie thought to herself. Anyone would think she's overreacting, but Penelope had only ever called Josie by a nickname since they had got to know each other. Josie felt a twang of pain in her heart as she realised this wasn't the case anymore. She knew what Penelope was doing, Josie had basically told her she didn't want her in her life anymore and Penelope was doing everything she could to respect that. She didn't want Penelope to respect it, she knew it was partly her fault for lashing out yesterday, but she's hurting, Penelope is the love of her life, you can't just get over that. Penelope had offered Josie an olive branch and Josie just snapped it in half. This is for the best Josie thought to herself, although she didn't believe it. 

Despite everything Josie wanted to listen to her heart, perhaps she overreacted and friends would work, I mean they were best friends too and of course Josie missed that. Something as little has not being called Jojo anymore really affected her, yeah she was hurting but this hurt her even more. She had a lot of thinking to do.

"Are you?" Penelope asked a confused Josie. 

Josie gave her a weird look. "Am I what?" 

"Going to the party?" Penelope asked, she knew Josie must've zoned out.

"Nah, not really in a party mood." Josie said sadly. 

This didn't surprise Penelope, Josie wasn't much of a party animal. There were plenty of times Penelope stayed home with Josie when there was a party, which Penelope didn't mind she would've done anything just to be with her girl.

For Josie, the rest of the lesson she was just trying to decide between her head and heart. Penelope broke her heart sure, but having no contact with the girl whatsoever was breaking it more and more.

"Lizzie can you just tell me what I've done, you were fine the other day." Hope said after continuously being ignored by Lizzie the whole lesson.

Lizzie rubbed her temple and looked at Hope. 

"Josie didn't know I was with you and then you went and opened your big mouth and dropped me right in it." Lizzie snapped.

"And whys it bad that she knew? We were only studying." Hope replied confused.

"Studying doesn't involve waking up on top of you." Lizzie whispered, getting embarrassed. 

Hope laughed, she loved having this effect on Lizzie Saltzman. 

"It was a good cuddle." Hope said shrugging. 

"That's not the point." Lizzie said before her eyes widen. "I mean it wasn't even that good, I mean I've had wors- I-I don't even remember it." Lizzie said getting in a muddle before internally slapping herself. 

"Whatever you say." Hope said smiling, knowing exactly what Lizzie means, and relief that Lizzie feels the exact same as she does, she just doesn't want to admit it.

Penelope was in her room getting ready for the party tonight. She put on skinny black jeans and a crop top with a nice leather jacket to match. She doesn't know who she's dressing up for, the only person she wants to see isn't going. She knew she needed to try and move on, Josie made her feelings very clear. She was going to do everything she could tonight to forget about her. 

"Lizzie I'll see you later okay, I'm really not in the mood tonight." Josie said. 

"Fine, I'm only letting you off tonight because if I wait any longer I'm gonna be late." Lizzie said before she left. 

When Penelope arrived the party was in full swing. She saw the vamps playing beer pong and being terrible at it. I need a drink she thought to herself making her way over to the drinks table. Penelope drank and drank and drank until she was absolutely wasted. She didn't want any logical thoughts in her head as they just hurt her, the thought of Josie hurt so she just wanted to remove them tonight. About 10 minutes had passed as she walked from the group she was with. On her way outside for some air she bumped into Amber, the same girl she had a fight with a few days ago. 

"Watch it." Penelope slurred, she didn't know who it was but she tried to barge past them.

"Oh Penelope, nice to see you, you look even cuter without that black eye I gave you." Amber smirked, trying to get a reaction. 

"Yeah, you look less like a panda without the two I gave you." Penelope said rolling her eyes. She had to admit Amber looked hot tonight. Penelope looked up and down her body, checking her out.

"Like what you see?" Amber said taking a step forward biting her lip. She's always been open about fancying Penelope, normally Penelope wouldn't of gave her the time of day but due to being so drunk her mind was everywhere. 

Move on move on move on was all that Penelope could understand from her head, Josie doesn't want you, and Ambers right here. 

"Hmm and what if I do?" Penelope replied, taking another step forward. 

Josie was alone in her room reading. She would normally love nights like these but her mind wouldn't stop thinking. Of course she was hurting but that doesn't mean she can't want Penelope in her life. She knew she overreacted yesterday in the attic and she should apologise, but the words just came out. Her heart was definitely winning this battle, she was hurting a lot more being on bad terms with Penelope than she would be being friends. After a while of back and fourth she decided to go the party and see Penelope, to tell her she wants to be friends if that's still what Penelope wanted. As that was better than nothing right?

Josie quickly got dressed and made her way to the Mill, with one thing on her mind. Penelope.


	8. The little things she craved were so far away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone feels a bit too much  
Please let me know if you're enjoying this fic :))

As soon as Josie had arrived at the party she went over to MG, making sure to avoid all of the drunk teenagers on her way. Although Lizzie making that harder.

"Omg Josie you cameeee!" Lizzie practically yelled.

"Yes I did and you're drunk, lay off it, you're gonna get ill." Josie said trying to avoid one of Lizzie's drunk hugs where she quite literally holds on for dear life. 

"Okay Jooooo, have funnnn." Lizzie shouted before dancing off somewhere.

"Hey MG, have you seen Penelope?" Josie asked looking around.

"From what I've heard I'm surprised you're looking for her." MG laughed. "But yeah I saw her going upstairs a minute ago." 

"It's complicated, but okay thanks" Josie said before leaving MG and started going up the stairs. 

Josie was about half way up the stairs when she heard something which sounded an awful lot like Penelope. She crouched down and looked through the gaps in the bannister. She couldn't see much, she saw Penelope's legs which were unmistakeable, and she was with someone, who was pinned against the wall. 

Josie's stomach dropped, she knew Penelope was making out with someone, someone which wasn't her. She couldn't even stand around to watch before she ran down the stairs and out of the mill. Josie's vision was blurred by her tears, she just needed to get away. Josie looked down at the ground the whole way back to her room, she didn't want to risk anybody seeing her cry, she felt pathetic enough. Josie went into her room and slammed the door. She rested her back against the door and slid down, arms around her knees. 

She didn't think she would be so affected seeing Penelope move on, but it felt like someone had drained everything out of her, silent tears fell and Josie was numb. She can't blame Penelope for moving on, she had basically told her to leave her life, but now it was happening, she didn't want it. She wanted the normal bitchy banter and the flirty comments back. Josie ruined that, but Penelope ruined it first. Josie took a few deep breaths and got into bed, lying there wondering why she continuously got hurt by the love of her life, wondering why she wasn't good enough. 

*Before Josie entered the party* 

Amber took Penelope's hand and led her upstairs, they were both drunk, but not drunk enough to not know where this was leading. Penelope pushed Amber against the wall. 

"Always thought you'd like it rough." Amber smirked. 

"Is that so?" Penelope replied.

They looked at each other for a moment before Amber started to lean in. 

*Real Time*

Suddenly Penelope remembered where she was, her mind was still everywhere but her vision became more clear. She came to a realisation that this wasn't what she needed, she needed Josie. Even if Josie doesn't want her anymore, she doesn't want anybody that isn't her, even if it is as a distraction. The lips she was looking at were thin, and pale, they weren't full and plump like Josie's. The scent she smelt wasn't the usual beautiful strawberry, it was lavender. The little things she craved were so far away and she needed to get away, but not before playing it off cool.

"It's a shame you'll never find out." Penelope said with a wink before rushing off and leaving Amber high and dry. Penelope felt sick, she was so close to doing something she couldn't take back and she felt awful.

As Penelope approached the bottom of the staircase and ran into MG. 

"Woah slow down, what's the rush? Oh did you find Josie?" MG asked steadying Penelope. 

"Josie? What?" Penelope asked slurring her words, still too drunk. 

"Yes Josie.. she went up like five minutes ago looking for you." MG stated, slightly confused. 

Oh for fuck sake. Penelope thought to herself, knowing what Josie would've thought. 

Penelope barged past MG and headed to the kitchen. She grabbed a few bottles of water in an attempt to sober up before she left to go and find Josie. She knows Josie better than anybody and would know that even though she said what she did, she would still be hurting, and Penelope wouldn't be the cause of that again. So as she drank her water she made her way to Josie's room.

Lizzie was drunk drunk, she hadn't been this drunk in a while. She was in the middle of shots when she felt a hand on her shoulder. 

"Lizzie don't you think you've had enough now?" Rafael asked.

"Who the hell are you to tell me what to do?" Lizzie said before barging past Rafael. Then she heard another voice.

"He's right Lizzie." MG said

It was getting harder to Lizzie to determine who was who, her vision was blurry and it felt like she was constantly spinning. She walked off and continued to dance. 

"I'm gonna call Josie." MG said to Raf before taking his phone out of his pocket. A few moments had passed before MG huffed and took his phone away from his ear. No answer. MG decided to try one more person. 

"Hello?" Hope answered confused as to why MG was calling her. 

"Hope listen, Josie isn't answering her phone and Lizzie is so drunk I'm scared something will happen to her." MG said. 

"Okay, so bring her back.." Hope replied, still confused as to why she was being told this. 

"She won't listen to anybody, please just come and try." MG pleaded. 

Everyone knew the relationship between Hope and Lizzie wasn't a good one, so why MG was calling her she'd never know. But she did need to make sure Lizzie was okay.

"Ugh fine." Hope groaned before hanging up and getting dressed.

This Saltzman twin will be the death of me Hope thought to herself before leaving the room and going to the party.


	9. Another time maybe?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lil update for you all.  
Lizzie is clearly a veryyy happy drunk.  
Penelope has some explaining to do....  
Sorry for the slow update, ive been so busy recently  
Let me know what you think :)

Josie lay on her bed as silent tears fell down her face. She knew she shouldn't care, but she did, cared more than anything. And here she was, with the thought of Penelope with somebody else breaking her heart more. Until a sudden pounding on her door disturbed her thoughts. 

"Jojo let me in" Josie heard, knowing it was Penelope, but not knowing why she was here. 

Josie just ignored her, hoping she would just go away, but if there's one thing Josie knew, it was that Penelope didn't give up. Especially when it came to Josie. 

"Josie I'm not leaving until I explain, you know I will stay here all night if I have to." Penelope said still constantly knocking the door.

Josie remained silent, it's going to be a long night. 

When Hope entered the party it was pretty much dead, most people had left but the mill was a complete mess, bottles everywhere, smashed glass and drinks spilt. 

"Thank god you're here so I can leave, she's been a nightmare." MG said as he ran over to Hope. "She over there, good luck." MG smiled as pointed to where Lizzie was before he left the mill.

Hope didn't need to be told where Lizzie was, she could hear her singing 'Don't go breaking my heart' a mile away.

"Lizzie, come on you've had enough now." Hope said as she carefully approached Lizzie, not knowing what kind of drunk she was. 

"Oh heyyy Hope" Lizzie slurred as she wrapped her arms around Hope. It soon became obvious to Hope that drunk Lizzie was affectionate. Hope couldn't deny that it was adorable, seeing Lizzie with her guard down. Clearly drunk Lizzie didn't know why sober Lizzie hated Hope so much either, because drunk Lizzie seemed to love her. 

"We gotta go now okay? Come with me" Hope says reassuringly as she reaches out for Lizzie's hand.

"Ooh Mikaelson, bossy I like it." Lizzie said winking, which resulted in Hope trying not to laugh. 

They had gotten half way to Lizzie's room when Lizzie yanked Hope into the bathroom where Lizzie threw up. Hope rubbed circles calmly onto her back allowing her to feel more relaxed. 

"Woooow that was gross." Lizzie said looking into the toilet bowl laughing. Hope knew Josie couldn't see Lizzie like this, so Hope decided to take Lizzie back to her room instead, with Lizzie tripping over multiple times on the way.

It was nearly 1am and Penelope was still outside of Josie's room. Josie had received a text from Hope saying Lizzie was with her, which confused Josie but allowed her to know Lizzie was okay. 

"Josie this is getting ridiculous." Penelope stated. "Just let me in."

Josie had been ignoring Penelope for the past hour, doing everything in her power to ignore the girl and just go to sleep, but she couldn't sleep, not knowing that Penelope was just outside. Josie was getting tired now and just wanted this to be over with. Reluctantly she opened the door.

"Penelope what do you want" Josie snapped looking at the shorter girl. 

"I need to explain, please just let me in." Penelope said, feeling tired herself.

Josie opened the door wider giving Penelope room to enter. Being back in Josie's room made Penelope feel so many different emotions, knowing they did everything in that room, they had spent so many lazy sundays chilling in bed, which were Penelope's favourite days. 

Penelope soon snapped out of her thoughts. 

"So what do you want to explain? You made out with someone else, so what?" Josie said avoiding eye contact. 

Penelope knew this was Josie's wall coming back up, so she decided to tread carefully. 

"Josie nothing happened." Penelope said calmly.

"Don't lie, Penelope I saw you" Josie replied, tears threatening to fall.

"Okay so tell me, did you see our lips touch? Because if you did tell me, that'd be impressive seeing as thought it never happened." Penelope said matter of factly.

"Well no, but I- ugh whatever, just go Penelope you can do what you want. " Josie said turning away.

"Josie I know I can do what I want, but I don't want to, I'm not going to lie, it crossed my mind. I was hurting, she was there but nothing happened. I walked away before it could. I know we aren't together anymore but I don't want to hurt you. That's the last thing I want. So believe me or don't but nothing happened, I thought I could but turns out I couldn't do that to you. You mean too much to me." Penelope explained, trying to read Josie's expression. 

"If I mean that much to you then why did you end it?" Josie asked whilst sitting back on her bed.

"That's all you got from my grovelling?" Penelope asked laughing 

Josie shrugged. "You've never explained." Josie said quietly, for the first time in a while they were having an honest discussion. Josie believed Penelope, but still needed an answer to her question. 

Penelope took a deep breath and sat down. Not knowing what to say but knowing she had to say something.

"Okay Josie listen..." 

When Hope and Lizzie arrived at Hopes room Lizzie was almost asleep, luckily Hope was strong otherwise Lizzie would've been on the floor. Lizzie lay herself on Hopes bed and closed her eyes. She didn't know where she was but she knew it was safe, whether that was due to the room or the company though she didn't know. 

"Drink this" Hope said as she threw a bottle of water at Lizzie.

Lizzie threw it back "Lets play catch." Lizzie said excitedly. Hopes heart nearly burst due to how cute that was. 

"No no no you need to drink." Hope said as she held the back of Lizzie's head and carefully poured the water into Lizzie's mouth. When Lizzie looked forward she was met with ocean eyes, they were beautiful and Lizzie felt lost. She felt herself leaning forward, looking between Hopes eyes and lips. 

Hope knew what was happening and knew that it couldn't. She did like Lizzie a lot but she also knew she couldn't kiss her while she's drunk, it would be taking advantage and it may not be what Lizzie really wants. Of course Hope knew she may not ever get this chance again, but if she did she wants it to be perfect, not while one of them is drunk to know any better.

Before Lizzie could get any closer Hope slowly put her hand on Lizzie's cheek and brushed it lightly, she then carefully pushed Lizzie's head down to the pillow and put her fingers through her hair soothing her to sleep. 

"Another time maybe?" Lizzie smiled, clearly out of it.

Hope knew Lizzie was really tired as she fell asleep almost instantly. Hope stared at the girl and smiled.

"Yeah, maybe." Hope said before getting up, ready for a night on the sofa.

**Author's Note:**

> follow my twitter :)) @penelopesaltz


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